Slow Gypsy Life of Lynda and Bob

On Monday, January 7, 2008 we begin our "slow gypsy" life journey as we depart our home base in Alabama for the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. Lynda's sister Betty and husband Bill winter in Harlingen near the Mexico border, so we are off to share our new lifestyle with them and to seek warmer weather than we have experienced in recent days. True to our "slow gypsy" name, we will take nearly three weeks to travel the approximately 1100 miles pulling a 17,000 lb. fifth wheel. No more 14-hour marathon drives!

Since closing on the sale of our house, October 31 (a mere four months after deciding to embark on this journey), we have lived in our new home-on-wheels near the RV dealer, close to Chattanooga for end of year Dr. appointments, etc., near Lynda's son Rick and his wife Deb for moral and logistics support, and our dear friends Pam and Mike, who have graciously provided us a home base and will handle our mail as we travel hither-and-yon. We decided early in our lifestyle transition not to be in a rush to hit the road; rather, to get comfortable living in our fifth wheel aka "fiver or rig" and driving the truck - without pulling the rig. In retrospect, this has proven to be a brilliant decision. Although we undoubtedly have much more to learn, we have learned a lot during these past two months. For the most part, we now feel comfortable enough to launch our travels. The biggest challenge, of course, is driving and maneuvering while pulling a 37-foot trailer. To date Bob has only pulled the rig 50 miles - from the dealer to our current campground in Gadsden, AL. Although it was a bit nerve-wracking driving through a single-lane construction zone with a minimal shoulder, pulling our major investment was not particularly stressful. Lynda was following in the car and asked who needed a change of underwear when we arrived! The only way to really learn how to perform such a task is to do it! So, here we go!

In the near future we will enter some history leading up to this point. We will provide some background about why and how we decided to embark on this adventure. Also, we will describe our transition and the experiences of the two months leading up to January 7. For now, our journal begins as we pull away from the peacefulness of River Country RV Park, our riverfront campsite on the Coosa River in Gadsden, AL.

The purpose of this journal is to document our travels and share our experiences and insights of this adventure. From time-to-time we will share our insights about life, our country and us. As our cousin Matthew in England says, "You only get one crack at the whip." So let's get cracking! Follow the map below to follow our journey!

As of Aug. 21, 2008 the counter for My Trip Journal isn't accurate so they have suggested using a free web counter web site. We will try it out and start our count with zero as of today.